CSIS opens wallet to battle cyberterrorists

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http://www.ottawacitizen.com/national/000616/4288982.html

Jim Bronskill
The Ottawa Citizen

Canada's intelligence agency plans "significant investments" in
advanced technology to try to keep pace with well-equipped terrorists
and spies.

The Canadian Security Intelligence Service said in its annual report
yesterday that the growing use of modern communications, computers and
encryption by terrorists poses new challenges.

"The increasing availability of methods to communicate quickly and
securely has significantly changed the playing field," says the CSIS
report.

Intelligence officials fear digital phone systems and Internet-related
devices will seriously erode the ability of authorities to intercept
clandestine conversations and messages.

CSIS also warns that society's increasing dependence on electronic
information networks makes it more vulnerable. "Terrorist activities
may become more destructive, while being more difficult to detect and
prevent."

In order to assess and address the threat from cyberterrorists,
foreign intelligence services and "lone, politically motivated
extremists," the service "will be making significant investments in
technological development to keep pace with changes."

CSIS plans to stay abreast of advances through internal research and
development as well as the sharing of information with government
institutions and allied agencies.

Dan Lambert, a CSIS spokesman, said officials want to know where
"technology may go and how it may impact on the service."

The report says CSIS, which has undergone years of belt-tightening,
found its "capacity to manage demands was stretched" last December
when the arrest of a man with bomb-manufacturing equipment at the
Canada-U.S. border touched off a series of investigations.

CSIS confirms that Sunni Islamic extremism, exemplified by terrorist
financier Osama bin Laden, continues to be the primary international
terrorist threat. The events of late last year indicate these
extremists, an ad hoc coalition with no specific national allegiance,
have intensified their activities abroad. "While previously limited to
support activity, efforts by Sunni extremists in Canada and the U.S.
appear to have escalated to co-ordinating attacks on North American
soil."

CSIS says terrorism of Canadian origin is limited to the potential for
violence from aboriginal extremism, white supremacists and right-wing
intolerance, as well as violent extremism linked to the Quebec
sovereignty debate, animal rights and environmental concerns.

CSIS also reports:

- The West can anticipate increasing numbers of migrants, both legal
and illegal, from Asia in the foreseeable future.

- Canadians working and travelling abroad increasingly appear to be
targets of political violence. In the last year, Canadians were at the
centre of a kidnapping in Ecuador, an Air India airline hijacking and
a hostage-taking at the Burmese Embassy in Thailand.

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